Yesterday I did a little experimenting (emphasis is on little) with the transfers.
I copied the same pictures onto transfer film and they are still wet. There must be a trick here I don't know. . . .so back to the drawing board on that one.
But, what I did discover is that the images transferred light in some areas on the transfer sheets too. So, that clued me in that the image was transferring to the fabric with the transfer medium that I had used. The "thin" spots really did have an image on them but it was just pale. The trick may be to pick darker images. I took those fabrics out again and rewet them. I just kept running my finger over the surface until it wasn't gritty anymore. When I took the pictures, that fuzziness is the paper sticking to the medium. It will come off but apparently it takes some real washing. Except for the one image that was incredibly light to begin with, the "new" images are very crisp and I am using them.
What else? the transfer medium that I slathered on the thickest has the nicest results. The directions say to cover the image until you cannot see it. I believe it now. The medium dries into a rubbery surface with the image copied onto it.
I looked at the Madonna postcards that Barbara sent me and my images are very similiar to the consistency of her postcards. I believe those were made with the transfer paper.
My uneducated guess is this is the same medium.
I am pleased. I do think the transparency will be better because I won't have to keep peeling away paper but I will have to address the drying issue.
Also, I decided to fuse one of the Madonnas (the best & thickest one) to my wallhanging and it did heat up the transfer enough that it bubbled. It is OK now but that is another consideration.
Scientist Debra reporting from the field. . .
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
BTW, I used that "Transfer this" stuff the first times too - but once you run out (and I know you have a lot!) just buy artist's Acrylic gel medium - you get a choice of gloss or matte - and it does the same stuff, better, cheaper. And with practice you can layer the medium thinner, so the image isn't so rubbery.
I love your blog! Beautiful.
Please visit my site!
Good for you for fiddling with the stuff untl it worked for you. Yes, you do have to be careful when you iron some of these transfers. I'm hoping that printing directly to fabric will result in a more iron-friendly piece of fabric--but I'll let you know if I'm right or not.
Barbara
I stopped in at Kinkos yesterday and had them transfer some butterfly images to a clear transfer sheet & to one of those iron on transfer sheets. I wanted them to use my clear transfer sheet so I could see if it would dry but they weren't willing to do that. I seem to have buried my Leslie Riley book somewhere where she talks about transfers. I think she said not to use 3M transfers and that is what I have. . .
I'll be experimenting with removing the image with gel medium today. I am a little scared of putting the image directly on my quilt in case I screw up. I did some rubber stamping of leaves yesterday and they came out superb! I practiced to see where they might touch the fabric and was careful to note the outside edge was dragging.
Anyway, I have some new images to play with & will report when done.
I can't remember what brand I use, but I know it's not 3m and I get it from office max. It has a distinctly rough side and a smooth side. You print the image on the rough side. I've not had any problems with drying, but I use an inkjet printer.
hugs,
Becky
Creative Passage
I did some black transfers with the 3M on my laser printer and they worked fine. I think the bubble jet must need a different kind of transfer because they are still wet and it's been a week!
Office Max is on my list for this week.
Post a Comment